6 contracts Vikings can adjust to create salary cap space

From Justin Jefferson to Harrison Smith, these six Minnesota Vikings could have their contracts adjusted to create salary cap space.

The Minnesota Vikings’ competitive rebuild approach has been a major talking point among analysts. Why not just tear it down and rebuild from the ground up? Well, if you haven’t been paying attention, they did that while winning 20 games over the last two seasons.

In order to keep things moving in the right direction, the Vikings will need to continue adjusting the cap to meet their needs. The salary cap just went up $30 million, a near 14% increase year over year, something that hasn’t been seen prior to this season.

If they want to create even more cap space to make a huge splash in free agency, they absolutely can do that. What contracts could be modified to fulfill that goal? These six players can have their contracts modified in different ways to create cap space in 2024.

7 Tight ends the Vikings should pursue in free agency

Do the Minnesota Vikings sign a tight end to fill in for T.J. Hockenson? From Noah Fant to Hunter Henry, these 7 options are intriguing

The Minnesota Vikings are in an interesting position at tight end going into free agency. They theoretically are set with T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver as the top two tight ends in the room. However, that is murky for 2024 with the torn ACL suffered on Christmas Eve by Hockenson since he didn’t have surgery to repair the injury until the end of January.

What should the Vikings do at the position? If they plan on redshirting Hockenson, would they end up signing a bridge player to get them through 2024? Do they choose to bring back Johnny Mundt and ride with the three guys in the room?

With how general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has pursued things so far, a bridge tight end makes a lot of sense. Here are seven different tight ends that could fit the bill and be that bridge player.

1 question for every position on the Vikings offense

The Minnesota Vikings are entering a pivotal offseason in 2024. Each position is under the microscope as we look at their biggest questions.

The 2023 season has been over for the Minnesota Vikings for just over four weeks and it’s about the time to really take a look and reflect on what was.

It wasn’t a great season for the Vikings, as they finished 7-10 but there were plenty of really enjoyable moments including the mania of Josh Dobbs.

2023 will be defined by both close games and injuries, as multiple Vikings starters missed a significant amount of time, including wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Kirk Cousins.

While things didn’t go their way in 2023, that doesn’t mean the future is any less bright. There are, however, multiple questions that need to be answered. Each position on the offensive side of the football is under the microscope as we take a look at the biggest question from each.

T.J. Hockenson undergoes successful surgery on torn ACL

The Minnesota Vikings announced Monday night that tight end T.J. Hockenson has undergone successful surgery to repair his torn ACL.

The Minnesota Vikings announced on Monday night that star tight end T.J. Hockenson has finally undergone successful surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Hockenson was initially injured during the Vikings Week 16 game against the Detroit Lions on a hit by safety Kerby Joseph.

The team released a statement on the matter Monday evening.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson underwent successful surgery to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) today. The surgery was led by Dr. Neal ElAttrache from the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles, Calif. The team will continue to provide updates, as appropriate, during Hockenson’s recovery.

Hockenson reportedly had yet to undergo surgery to repair the ligaments in his knee, reportedly to allow the MCL tear he also suffered in the hit to heal naturally. That swelling has abated in recent days and now Hockenson will begin the arduous task of rehabbing the injury.

Hockenson is an integral part of what the Vikings do on offense, providing a great target over the middle and a reliable safety valve for Kirk Cousins — or whomever the quarterback may be. The skill and production that Hockenson brings is tough to replace, but it’s likely that Minnesota will have to find a way to replicate his contributions early on in the season.

Knee injuries like the one Hockenson suffered typically have a rather long timetable for recovery. We’ll have to see how rehab goes for Hockenson in the offseason and just how soon he’ll be able to get back on the field, but it’s a possibility he’s not ready to go at the start of the season.

[lawrence-related id=90005,90003,89996,89719,89983,89986,89949,89922,89967,89947]

Twitter and Justin Jefferson call out the league for posting insensitive picture

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson joined fans in calling out the National Football League for sharing an insensitive picture

The divisional round of the playoffs has lived up to the billing. The Houston Texans held in there through the third quarter before the Baltimore Ravens took over for a 34-10 win and the San Francisco 49ers survived a resilient Green Bay Packers team for a 24-21 win.

Sunday afternoon was more of the same, as the Detroit Lions played a tough Tampa Bay Buccaneers team and advanced to their first NFC Championship Game since 1991 with a 31-23 victory.

During the game, the league’s official Twitter/X account shared a picture of a sign from a Lions fan in the crowd as it was meant to resemble the opening press conference when head coach Dan Campbell took the job.

The original press conference was about biting a kneecap off but both of those were ACL injuries caused by safety Kerby Joseph on low open-field hits to the knees of T.J. Hockenson and Tyler Higbee.

The picture set off a lot of Vikings fans and even elicited a response from Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

2023 Minnesota Vikings by The Numbers

The 2023 season for the Minnesota Vikings was one that can’t be forgotten.

Since 2017, there have been 65 teams that have had a winning streak of five or more in a single season. Only ten failed to make the playoffs, including three from 2023: The Denver Broncos, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota’s run is a bit more impressive due to two of the wins being with a quarterback in Josh Dobbs, who was in the building for less than two weeks. Like the other two teams, however, the Vikings were victims of a crushing late-season collapse that took them out of the playoff race. 

Don’t let the ending take away from another memorable season for the Vikings.

What started as a simple quest for answers for the franchise’s future became an adventure for the ages, littered with twists and turns suitable for the Alex Rider series. While the ride ended disappointingly, the numbers from this season may have helped the front office to their answers after all.

To explain, we will split this season into four quarters and explain the numbers that coincide with each quarter to come to a conclusion for the future of the Vikings.

(All statistics are from Pro-Football-Reference via Stathead or rbsdm.com, unless otherwise stated.)

Harrison Smith comments on dirty hits in today’s NFL

Smith took to Twitter to discuss late and dirty hits in the NFL with some important context

The way the game is trending in the National Football League is lighting up some interesting discussions, especially about hits.

During the wild card game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers, Bills center Connor McGovern hit Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. in the back while he was trying to bring down Stefon Diggs.

The Twitter account MLFootball commented how it was disgusting and it brought a rare tweet from Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith, who broke down why hits like this were coming.

It’s nice to see these kinds of explanations from players, as it adds necessary context that most people don’t have, as they don’t spend time in meeting rooms.

In the same thread, Smith was asked about Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph whose low hit tore the ACL of Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee, three weeks after the same hit tore the ACL and MCL of Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson.

What Smith said is something that hasn’t been discussed nearly enough in the space of both media and social media. The hits from Joseph aren’t dirty but a consequence of trying to improve concussion rate in the NFL.

Knowledge is power and we got some from Smith.

[lawrence-related id=89367,89368,89330,89056,89313,89343,89319]

Vikings final offensive PFF grades for 2023 season

The final Pro Football Focus grades for the Minnesota Vikings offense shed light on what could be a positive future for the franchise.

With the first weekend of the 2023 NFL playoffs nearly complete, we are looking back on the season that was for the Minnesota Vikings.

Despite a 7-10 record, the Vikings played well during the 2023 season. The offense finished a respectable 18th in EPA/play considering the backup quarterbacks that the Vikings had to play over the course of the last nine games.

Wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison along with tight end T.J. Hockenson all had excellent seasons and paired with offensive tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, the Vikings are in a good place moving forward.

For the final time in the 2023 season, we bring you the offensive grades from Pro Football Focus, this time the cumulative grades from the season.

2023 season: Vikings offensive player of the year

From Justin Jefferson to T.J. Hockenson, our staff at Vikings Wire makes our picks for Offensive Player of the Year.

The 2023 National Football League season is over for the Minnesota Vikings and now it’s time to reflect on what was and what could have been.

The Vikings had quite the roller coaster ride this season. After starting 1-4, they lost wide receiver Justin Jefferson and went on a five-game winning streak and won six out of their next eight games. They ultimately lost their final four to finish the season 7-10.

As we reflect back on the season that was for the Vikings, we as a staff took a look at it in multiple ways by handing out awards in different categories.

Here are our choices for Vikings offensive player of the year.

Other awards:

Surprise Performace
Rookie of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year

Two Vikings make the 2024 NFL Pro Bowl, six are alternates

Two players will represent the Minnesota Vikings at the 2024 Pro Bowl Games while six others were honored as alternates.

The NFL recently unveiled their 2024 NFL Pro Bowl Games with the following Minnesota Vikings making the cut:

  • OLB Danielle Hunter
  • LS Andrew DePaola

The Vikings also have six alternates, ranging from first to fourth at their respective positions.

The number of players may seem lower than usual, especially with wide receiver Justin Jefferson not being a part of the festivities due to injury. However, the Vikings are well-represented in that those who were selected, alternate or otherwise, certainly deserved it.

Here are the 2024 representatives (and alternates) for your Vikings.